Rescue mission: Battle to halt the tragic death toll of Defence-related suicide

The Townsville Bulletin has launched a campaign to shine a light on gaps in policy and current care models with the aim of improving and saving the lives of current and ex-serving personnel and their families.

TODAY marks one year and three days since the Prime Minister announced Townsville as one the first of 12 trial sites for a suicide prevention initiative targeted at Australian Defence Force members and veterans.

In that time, during which a high-level roundtable to discuss suicide prevention was also held in Townsville, more than 50 current or ex-serving personnel have taken their own lives.

The Warriors Return, an unofficial defence personnel and veterans suicide register, has recorded 57 Defence-related suicides nationally since January alone, with four of those deaths in Townsville and another well-publicised case of Afghanistan veteran and former 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment soldier Jesse Bird.

By comparison, the register recorded 76 suicides in 2016 and 48 in 2015. Those figures individually are all more than the number of Australians who were killed in Afghanistan during 13 years of war.

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The Federal Government has been heavily criticised for its fanfare announcements regarding the suicide prevention trial sites and the Veterans’ Employment Program over the past 12 months, and the little impact it’s had on halting suicide rates and creating genuine employment opportunities for ex-ADF personnel.

The Townsville Bulletin today launches a campaign to shine a light on gaps in policy and current care models with the aim of improving the lives of current and ex-serving personnel and their families and stemming the tide of poor mental health outcomes and suicide in our garrison city.

Three-star general, retired Lieutenant General John Caligari AO, DSC. Picture: Wesley Monts

Three-star general, retired Lieutenant General John Caligari AO, DSC, chair of the Townsville trial dubbed Operation Compass, said the city was well ahead of the other 11 suicide prevention trial sites.

He said the trial’s 10-member steering committee had already met four times and had also formed at 25-person advisory group made up of members who “live and breathe” this problem.

“Unfortunately the number of suicides is not going to stem until we do something about it but I think we’re on the right track,” he said.

“I don’t expect there to be any heavy lifting from Canberra, all they can do is provide us the money, the $3 million over three years, so to my mind with the support of the Primary Health Network, we’ve got everything we need to make this work.”

Mr Caligari said this fight for him was very personal and he believed the garrison city needed to be the crucible for stopping Defence-related suicides in Australia.

“It’s important for me to get this right because out of a 36-year military career I commanded soldiers in Townsville for a third of that time,” he said. “Many of the people who are killing themselves are close friends of mine and … I have been to too many funerals and see soldiers that I have taken on combat operations taking their lives.

“I’m now a Townsville resident and we are looking for a solution and we’re going to make a Defence solution out of this. We won’t come up with a solution that is so bespoke it will only work in Townsville. The principle of our solutions will be so that we can roll out across Australia.”

Mr Caligari said it was hoped the steering committee would have it’s community action plan finalised by Veterans’ Health Week in October.

Rescue mission to help our current and ex-serving ADF personnel.

A report released in June by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare found that between 2001 and 2015, there were 325 certified suicide deaths among people with at least one day of ADF service since 2001.

Of these deaths 51 per cent (166) were of people no longer serving at the time of their death, 28 per cent (90) were of people serving full time and 21 per cent (69) were of people serving in the active and inactive reserves. Men made up the vast majority of these suicide deaths (93 per cent or 303 deaths) and 84 per cent of the ADF populations examined.

Women made up the remaining 7 per cent (22 deaths).

The suicide rates of ex-serving men were more than twice as high as for those serving full time or in the reserve and were also slightly higher than for their counterparts in the general population after adjusting for age.

Ex-serving men aged 18-24 were at particular risk — two times more likely to die from suicide than Australian men of the same age. Further detailed results are anticipated to be published in a comprehensive technical report later this year.

Veteran Michael Lyddiard before the 24-Hour Treadmill Challenge for Suicide Prevention Australia, being held by Anytime Fitness. Pictured with Herbert MP Cathy O'Toole.

Herbert MP Cathy O’Toole, who established the city’s first Defence Reference Group, said she believed Townsville was now leading the country in improving mental health outcomes and reducing the rate of suicide.

She said the suicide prevention trial site continued to offer a beacon of hope.

“For the people we have already lost, action hasn’t come quickly enough and one loss of life has such an enormous ripple effect across our community,” Ms O’Toole said.

“I think every death is a tragedy without any doubt because these men and women have given their lives so selflessly to secure our freedom.

“Mental health and suicide prevention is a very complex space, but I know the leaders in this community have had the foresight to see there are significant issues that we can do something about.”

Originally published as Rescue mission: Battle to halt the tragic death toll of Defence-related suicide